Bulletproofs

Bulletproofs provide compact zero-knowledge proofs that eliminate the need for a trusted setup.

Bulletproofs are innovative non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs designed to confirm the validity of a secret within a defined range without disclosing any additional information. These succinct proofs are ideal for efficient confidential transactions in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as they significantly reduce the size of cryptographic proofs from over 10kB to under 1kB. Unlike SNARKs, Bulletproofs do not require a trusted setup, although their verification process is more time-consuming. Additionally, Bulletproofs facilitate proof aggregation, allowing multiple transaction validations to add minimal overhead, which contributes to considerable storage savings in the UTXO set. Beyond their primary use in confidential transactions, Bulletproofs have versatile applications in cryptographic protocols such as solvency proofs, verifiable shuffles, and confidential smart contracts.